A Cellist was held at Heathrow Airport and questioned for 8 hours this week. A terrorist suspect? False passport? Drug smuggling? If only it was so dramatic and spectacular. Her crime was coming to the UK with her cello, to participate in musicology conference organised by the School of Music at the University of Leeds and it was for this reason that Kristin Ostling was deported back to Chicago. What was UK Borders Agency (UKBA) thinking? That she would sell her cello to earn some cash, or do a spot of moonlighting at some secretive classical music gig, while she was here?

The Conference organiser, Professor Derek Scott informed the Manifesto Club that “She was not being paid a penny for this, but these zealous officers decided that playing a cello is work and, paid or unpaid, she could not be allowed in.”

Sadly this is not a unique case of a UKBA jobsworth being ludicrously overzealous, but part of a systematic strategy of threatening warnings to artists and musicians that they have to submit to the points-based system (PBS). Under these rules, introduced by New Labour nearly two years ago, any organisation which wishes to invite non-EU artists or academics must register as a ‘licensed sponsor’. Their visitors must then go through a set of arduous procedures, including giving biometric details and proving that they hold savings; and then the host organisation is responsible for monitoring them for the duration of their stay, and must inform the UKBA if their visitor is delayed for any reason or exhibits ‘suspicious behaviour’. Host organisations must also agree to collaborate with the UKBA at all times, including handing over staff details or allowing the inspection of their premises.

At the Manifesto Club we have received reports from artists which would be worthy of a Kafka-inspired collection of short stories. The message of the UKBA to non-EU visiting artists: you are welcome to visit, but you’re not allowed to be an artist while you’re here. It’s like being temporarily stripped of your identity until you return home.

The UKBA is snooping around grassroots and alternative arts activities, threatening visiting artists and their hosts with alarming regularity. In August this year I was told by the curator John Askew how two artists he invited to collaborate to make an installation at Yinka Shonibare’s space Guests Projects were intimidated by UKBA. The installation by the US-based visiting artist, and British based Singaporean Lynn Charlotte Lu, “was removed from the gallery at the very last moment because of concern that both the artists and the space might be liable to prosecution because the artists didn't have work permits.” The same US artist was deported in 2009 because she was coming to create an artwork for a commercial gallery that was not a “licensed sponsor”. Her second visit this year was as a tourist. However, her UK-based collaborator Lynn Charlotte Lu told me that the US artist“was nevertheless interrogated for hours due to her previous art-related deportation. The immigration officer then phoned me to interrogate and threaten me. He warned me that if X was found to be making art on this trip, that I would be fined and blacklisted, and that he already knew all of my details.”

The story then became even more surreal, as the US artist was subjected to a bizarre interrogation at UK customs:

“The officer then asked X to ‘prove’ that she will not make art in London. When X said she did not know how to do that, the officer asked what he would find if he searched her bags. When she mentioned watercolour paints, he demanded to know what she planned to do with them. She replied that she may wish to make some paintings in her sketchbook of London's architecture, etc. He then asked her to ‘prove’ that she had made watercolour paintings in her sketchbook before. She flipped through her book and showed him some watercolours she had made. He said, ‘These aren't watercolours of buildings. Show me a watercolour of a building.’ Luckily she happened to have some sketches in another notebook. He was finally appeased (of what we still do not know), and let her through customs with a stern warning. “

The US artist entered the UK, and started building the work. But during that week they investigated further, and found out that making any art – even if unpaid – was counted as ‘work’ and required official clearance. “ We learned that since the beginning of the recession, visiting non-EU artists are no longer permitted to make art without official sponsorship (expensive and time-consuming) by an institution, and while on 'Visitors Visa' are permitted to do nothing more than sight-see. If caught: deportation, a fine, and blacklisted forever.” It was because of this that they decided to withdraw the show.

US Photographer Alec Soth was threatened by UKBA, and told that he could face imprisonment for 2 years should he be caught taking photographs for an exhibition commissioned by Brighton Photo Biennial. He ingeniously got around these rules by getting his 7 year old daughter to take his photographs. [read on...]

This fifty-year survey of the Los Angeles conceptual artist is as comprehensive as it is hilarious. Entitled “Pure Beauty,” the retrospective just arrived in New York from LA, and the rarely seen video works are the stars here. Some consider the artist to be a cranky old fraud, but I’m a sucker for his photographic interventions. C’mon, you gotta love a guy who once cremated some of his early work and actually made cookies with a portion of the ashes.

In its Lower East Side space, the gallery is presenting “Peak” by video prestidigitator Oursler. It is difficult not to be charmed by his creepy, performative sculptures. They channel sculptor Jean Tinguely and might evoke personal associations such as MTV or Sigmund Freud.

Garnett’s rendering of apocalyptic fireworks and cryptic explosions celebrate what paint can do. Her brushstrokes reveal a master colorist’s touch while leaving the meaning of the paintings—whether celebratory or ominous—to the interpretation of viewer. [sic]

The artist finds vintage family photo albums, strips them of the actual photographs and displayed the altered and faded pages. She manages to evoke universal emotions by denying us the faces of these long dead people. The works are striking for their formal qualities as well as their poignancy.

Imagine a reading room with a constantly expanding supply of books selected by artists and designers. Art In General’s Storefront Project Space is currently a little library of donated publications facilitated by designer Mylinh Nguygen. It’s a little bit hippie, a little bit Yoko Ono but nonetheless thought-provoking taken on its own terms. And the catalogue of books contains things you won’t see in many other places.

On Halloween night, you can drop by the opening of this knee-slapper of a show entitled Selbstportrait als essiggurkerl. Translation: Self-portrait as Pickle. Wurm will be displaying 26 hand-painted resin pickle sculptures vertically on plinths of varying heights. Speaking as a lover of art and pickles, I can’t wait.

Photography Benefit and Auction @ Aperture Foundation

November 1st is the date this year’s photography benefit for this venerable institution. In addition to supporting a solid arts organization, attendees can pick up photogaphic works by well-known artists as well as new talent, often at bargain prices. The live and silent auctions feature some spectacular work. Included are memorable images by Diane Arbus, James Welling, Hank Willis Thomas, Joel Meyerwitz and Mickalene Thomas. Tickets for the cocktail party and auction begin at $150, but anyone can bid online by going to www.auction.aperture.org.

A group show curated by David Gibson that includes works in various media by Erik Benson, John Berens, Monika Bravo, Eduardo Cervantes, Sally Curcio, Jonathan Feldschuh, Laura Harrison, Madeleine Hatz, Jeff Konigsberg, Michelle Mackey, Dana Melamed, Dean Monogenis, Ross Racine, Asya Reznikov, Kristen Schiele, Kimberly Sexton, Philip Simmons, Mary Ann Strandell, Miryana Todorova, Michael Zansky, J.G. Zimmerman. The exhibition presents various interpretations of architecture in cityscapes, and includes some real clunkers. But it is well worth checking out for the contributions from Kimberly Sexton and Miryana Todorova, among others.

The November event that I am most looking forward to is the opening of the new posh, ground floor home of Lombard Freid Gallery. It’s on West 19th directly across from David Zwirner Gallery and adjacent to the Frank Gehry birthday cake building. The upcoming season holds much promise from within the gallery’s whip smart program. November 6th is the inaugural exhibition and will feature the wacky work of gallery artist William Earl Kofmehl III.